I agree that buttons matter more than the style of the coat, as the number of buttons obviously serve to distinguish people by their role in the hunt.
Remember too that a proper frock for members without colors must also have rounded skirt corners.
Honestly, my warm weather coat is a Melton cut lightweight but I am tempted to buy a black frock with three buttons for colder weather and have the local tailor round the corners if they come squared.
Well, you can tell that MFH that a bunch of us a bit north of them in VA still do sewn-in bridles, and most everyone does brown gloves. I have done derbies, but it is NOT a flattering look on me. 
Iâd like to meet someone who wears black gloves so they can explain how they get the dye stains off their skin!
Iâm so thankful for brown gloves being the rule, as I always get weird hands if I wear black gloves, even for a quick show class.
I have belonged to 2 mounted hunts and a foot pack. Attire is important but safety and kindness are priorities. A lot of us get into hunting as competent adults in the rest of our lives and itâs a bit of a stretch to rely on others to guide us through the beginning of a new venture. Itâs hard to be open to all the new stuff. Some of these COTH folks have forgotten more than I will ever know about the sport. JSwan, now you have to tell the ODH/rust britches story! (So sorry I did not get to meet you when I was at Betsyâs this summer)âŠNow, Pisces, please let us know how it goes on Saturday. I hope you get bitten by this hunting bug, Sugar!
There is a story about why those hunts wear rust, by the way. An interesting piece of history.
Hides sh*t stains? :winkgrin:
The Rust Breeches Story
Once upon a time, ODH was a private gentleman farmerâs pack.
Way back when, Col Hinkley started the pack, Gen. Patton was foxhunting the area, too. When the colors were decided, the War effort had depleted the energy resources and everyone was making adjustments.
ODH wrote âbrickâ breeches as the descriptive. The color went with the native old brick of Col. Hinkleyâs Great House. It also matched the native clay soil, so the gentlemen didnât have to clean the breeches as often. If one is careful and spot cleans, one can get a large number of rides in before a major cleaning. It also is a color that one could get in leather. Handy for our windy mountains.
Even when I started hunting with ODH, many eons ago, there were brick color breeches that went beautifully with the scarlet. Harry Hall made a corderoy that was glorious. Wore them until they collapsed of old age. I hope that the current breech makers will bring back the deep muted brick as a fashion color. It doesnât have the glare of some of the rust out there now.
Now, have some choclate and port, and consider coming hunting with usâŠ
Oh wow, I had a pair of HH corduroy britches too! In brown.
I wonât be bringing it along, but the frock that I bought does indeed have rounded corners and only 3 buttonsâŠand neutral buttons, no hunt insignia. But 1) I donât want to offend, as a guest, and 2) this weekend will be MUCH too warm for the frock.
Poor Blues buster, she had no idea that her quite proper post about her mistaken purchase of boots with tops would go on so!
yeahâŠwellâŠ
Oh Hindy! BRING that frock and wear it when weâre belly dancing around the Glen saturday night! :winkgrin: I wanna see you IN IT!! You might need it ya knowâŠWe can take turns trying it onâŠ:uhoh:
Mildot - thanks for reminding me about the rounded corners thing! sheeeshâŠthis stuff can be a pain! Which is what I think our poor OP was trying to say!!
Carry on everyone!
I like the Snobbington Hunt livery the bestâŠ!! 
Watery, thanks for the background on brick breeches! I believe that I have been out w/ Snobbington once or twice. My tiara and matching flask are the best!
WateryGlen,
I saw a gorgeous twill frock, made in England, Queenâs tailor, in the Middleburg Tack Exchange. It was nice enough that I was trying it on and trying to figure out how to make it fit me. But, alas, Iâm too petite for it. I think you should take a look- It is long enough that I think it will flatter your figure.
Iâm glad an ODH member told the story. Itâs your story to share.
Note for others - this would have been in the 1920âs - the war being referred to would have been the Great War, also known as WWI.
The Depression also took its toll.
General Patton did not make it home from WWII.
Here I sit randomly catching up and so randomly weighing in!
If memory serves, he died as a result of a car accident in Germany, going to, or from, a day of pheasant hunting, just before he was to return home in 1945.
As for hunting, I think he was also master of the Cobbler Hunt- near De La Plane? in the '30s.
His wife met her untimely demise in the hunt field, at the âdouble dropâ at Myopia if I am remembering the story correctly.
As for boots w/black patent tops. Iâve been hunting since 1971 and never owned a pair. Plain black, yes, brown field boots, yes, and black boots with brown tops because when I whipped in, the Master decreed scarlet coat, which of course means white breeches unless one is at ODH, which I was not, which of course meansâŠbrown tops.
But global advice- if you can only own one pair of boots, make them plain black. Good for cubhunting, high holy days, and everything in between.
Also randomly weighing in: re: the ODH rust breeches story
Old Dominion Hounds were established as Mr. Larrabeeâs Hounds in 1924, well after WWI, by Sterling Larrabee, not Col. Hinckley.
The rust breeches thing happened in support of WWII war efforts.
Albert Hinckley purchased the Old Dominion Hounds (Larrabee renamed the pack in 1931) in 1941.
Larrabee bought the farm now known as Old Kennels in 1926. (I bought the âback 40â of the property in 1997, establishing Hunterâs Rest in the fields where Larrabee used to keep imported Red Deer penned for hunting when scenting conditions were too poor to course the red fox.)
Gen. Patton established the Cobbler Hunt in 1932, turning it over in 1935 when he was assigned to Hawaii. They did not resume hunting after the war and much of the territory (which theyâd gotten from Warrenton Huntâs northwest corner) went to ODH.
Raymond Guestâs Rock Hill Hunt was born out ODHâs far west territory in 1939 (west of the Blue Ridge.) That hunt disbanded during the later years of the war and the territory went to the Blue Ridge Hunt.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6576234
I was fascinated to learn about General and Ms Patton and googled for more information. According to the Internet, she did die hunting but not as a result of it.
BTW - still find this thread interesting!
Heâs buried at the American cemetery in Luxembourg. Itâs a beautiful cemetery. (visited it years ago)
Was that the only club he hunted with? I thought he hunted with a hunt further south in Virginia too. Maybe Iâm confusing him with someone else.
As for tops, Iâve a friend who hates patent leather. The sound and feel makes her cringe. So she just had tops made out of a different leather and polishes them up nicely. Kind of defeats the purpose of the patent leather but she doesnât care and neither do we!
[QUOTE=Beverley;5959337]
Here I sit randomly catching up and so randomly weighing in!
If memory serves, he died as a result of a car accident in Germany, going to, or from, a day of pheasant hunting, just before he was to return home in 1945.
As for boots w/black patent tops. Iâve been hunting since 1971 and never owned a pair. Plain black, yes, brown field boots, yes, and black boots with brown tops because when I whipped in, the Master decreed scarlet coat, which of course means white breeches unless one is at ODH, which I was not, which of course meansâŠbrown tops.
But global advice- if you can only own one pair of boots, make them plain black. Good for cubhunting, high holy days, and everything in between.[/QUOTE]
These random old threads that sometimes appear (this one being 2011) can be really interesting.
I agree, and am wondering if the OP got her colors and wears those boots!
Any tips? Iâm headed up to your area for a few weeks and Iâve been nominated as the guinea pig to try out the side saddle that a friend stumbled upon and bought on a whim, Iâm actually rather excited!
Me too! I need an answer!
In addition, as somebody who would love to try out hunting someday, I need one of these people to give me a definitive answer as to what to wear lol.
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